Institute for Democracy (IDSCS) with the support of the Open Society Foundation (OSF) Western Balkans, organized an advocacy visit to Berlin, Germany from 06-08 of March 2024, as part of the project Berlin Process after Tirana 2023? Redefining the role of civil society. The efforts under this project are based on the conclusions from the workshop in Skopje organized as a follow-up event of the 2024 Civil Society Forum (CSF2024) organized as part of the Berlin Process (BP) Summit in Tirana.
The aim of this visit was to disclose the conclusions and recommendations on advancing the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Berlin Process from the closed workshop in Skopje and the advocacy visit to Sarajevo and Belgrade with relevant stakeholders in Berlin, Germany.
In Berlin, Zoran Nechev, Head of the Centre for European Integration at IDSCS accompanied by the representatives from OSF-WB, Andi Dobrushi, Director, Miodrag Milosavljevic, Deputy Director, Vlora Rechica, Program Analyst and Director Assistant and Lura Limani, Team Leader engaged in discussions with relevant German state institutions and think tanks organisations.
The participants started the visit with a meeting with Anja Quiring, Regional Director for South Eastern Europe and Antje Muller, Program Director of the Zoran Djindjic Internship Program at the German Business for the Western Balkans, where they discussed the ways of integrating the Civil Society Forum and the Business Forum, as both events address similar topics. They also met with Adnan Cerimagic, Senior Analyst at the European Stability Initiative. He updated the group on the latest state of play in the domestic political constellations in Berlin. Finally, the group met with Jannis von Oy, Deputy Head of the Division of Bilateral Relations with the States of Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe at the German Federal Chancellery.
The second day of the visit included meeting with Anton Hofreiter, Member and Chairman of the Committee on European Union Affairs in the German Bundestag. During the meeting, emphasize was placed on the role of the WB Parliaments in the Berlin Process and how they can be sustainably integrated in the BP Summits and the possibility of organizing a Parliamentary conference within the framework of the 2024 Berlin Process Summit was discussed. The visit continued with a meeting with Milan Nic, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia and Frauke Seebas, Project Manager Western Balkans at the German Council on Foreign Relations. They updated the group on the organisation and timeframe for the 2024 Summit in Berlin. Finally, the group discussed the expectations and preparations for the upcoming 2024 Berlin Process with the Niels Peter, Head of Western Balkans Division, Valeska Esch, Senior Advisor to the Federal Government’s Special Representative for the WB countries and Johannes Drijkoningen, Referent at the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt).
The project Berlin Process after Tirana 2023? Redefining the role of civil society is supported by the Open Society Foundation Western Balkans and implemented by the Institute for Democracy (IDSCS).
